This morning, Dunn defended his decision last fall to terminate half of the department.

"Based on the information we had at the time, I couldn't have acted differently," Dunn said.

The township hired a private investigator to confirm allegations of illicit activity that surfaced earlier in the summer. Those who gave sworn testimony during the investigation failed to appear when subpoenaed in March for arbitration hearings.

"We had every indication that they would come forward, but several did not," Dunn said.

A seventh firefighter, Capt. Steve Hammond, who was terminated prior to the others, is still in the arbitration process.

"It's been stressful, I can say that," Dunn said after the board vote. "It's over in terms of the grievance, but it's still not business as usual. It's had an effect on all parties."

Fire Chief Michael Hendges refused to comment on the board's decision. Scot Harvey, a representative for the fire union, said this morning he had not heard about the decision and referred comments to Dunn.